College of Forestry
Hilker, Thomas
Assistant Professor
Office Location:
Peavy 231
Phone:
541-737-2608
541-737-4316 (Fax)
Email Address:
Curriculum Vitae:
Education:
PhD, 2008, Forestry, University of British Columbia
MS, 2002, Photogrammetry and Geoinformatics, HfT Stuttgart
BS, 2000, Forestry, University of Applied Sciences, Göttingen
Areas of Interest:
- Remote sensing of vegetation responses to global change, carbon and water cycling
- Monitoring of land surface cover and disturbance
- Estimating vegetation structure using airborne and terrestrial LiDAR
- Data assimilation of plant productivity
- Satellite remote sensing of tropical rainforests
Current Programs:
Research Interests:
My major research interest is in remote sensing of the carbon, water and energy balance of terrestrial ecosystems. I use remotely sensed observations from towers and satellites to obtain information about vegetation carbon uptake over land and relate this data to models of the carbon, water and energy cycle regionally and globally. A central aspect of my work has been to scale stand level observations to the landscape where it can be observed by satellites. This includes links between vegetation structure and function, which can be obtained for instance using multi-angle optical systems, but also from airborne and terrestrial laser scanning (LiDAR) data.
I am also interested in studying changes in vegetation and vegetation cover over time using time series of satellite data. This research includes mapping of land cover and land use change and ecosystem disturbance as well as degradation of vegetation over time.
My research is very much interdisciplinary in that it builds on mechanistic approaches based on plant physiology, ecosystem and atmospheric science and I encourage collaborations across related earth science fields.
Prospective Graduate Students:
If you are interested in the area of my research or bring new ideas of research you would be interested in pursuing, please contact me directly
Courses:
FE 309 Forest Photogrammetry
Recent Publications:
2012
Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Black, T.A., Coops, N.C., Sellers, P.J., Tucker, C.J., Jassal R.S., Grant, N.F. (2012) Inferring daytime ecosystem respiration in temperate forests. Global Biogeochemical cycles, under review
Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Coops, N.C., Collatz, J.G., Black, T.A., Tucker, C.J., Sellers, P.J., Grant, N. (2012) On the Remote Sensing of Heat Fluxes and Surface Energy Balance. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, under review
Hilker, T., Lyapustin, A.I., Tucker, C.J., Sellers, P.J., Hall, F.G., Wang, Y (2012) Remote Sensing of Tropical Ecosystems: Atmospheric Correction and Cloud Masking Matter. Remote Sensing of Environment, in press, DOI 10.1016/j.rse.2012.08.035
Lyapustin, A.I., Wang, Y., Lazlo, I., Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Sellers, P.J., Tucker, C.J., Korkin, S.V. (2012) Multi-Angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction for MODIS (MAIAC). Part 3: Atmospheric Correction. Remote Sensing of Environment DOI 10.1016/j.rse.2012.09.002
Hall, F.G., Hilker, T., Coops, N.C. (2012) Data assimilation of photosynthetic light-use efficiency using multi-angular satellite data: I. Model formulation Remote Sensing of Environment, 121, 301–308
Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Tucker, C.J., Coops, N.C., Black, T.A., Nichol, C.J., Sellers, P.J., Barr, A., Hollinger, D.Y., Munger, W. (2012) Data assimilation of photosynthetic light-use efficiency using multi-angular satellite data: II Model implementation and validation Remote Sensing of Environment, 121 287–300
Coops, N.C., Waring, R.H., Hilker, T. (2012) Prediction of Soil Properties using a Process-based Forest Growth Model to Match Satellite-Derived Estimates of Leaf Area Index. Remote Sensing of Environment, in press
Wulder, M.A., J.C. White, R.F. Nelson, E. Næsset, H.O. Ørka, N.C. Coops, T. Hilker, C.W. Bater, & T. Gobakken. (2012) Lidar sampling for large-area forest characterization: A review. Remote Sensing of Environment, 121, 196-209
Brown, N.D.A, Nelson, T., Bater, C.W., Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Gaulton, R., Stenhouse, G.B. (2012) Effects of forest disturbance age on habitat use by Grizzly Bears (Ursus Arctos L.) in West-Central Alberta, Canada. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing
Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Bater, C.W., Wulder, M.A., Nielsen, S.E., McDermid, G., Stenhouse, G. (2012). Linking ground-based to satellite-derived phenological metrics in support of habitat assessment. Remote sensing Letters, 3:3 191-200
Chen, G., M.A. Wulder, J.C. White, T.H. Hilker, and N.C. Coops. (2012). Lidar calibration and validation for geometric-optical modeling with Landsat. Remote Sensing of Environment, 124, 384-393.
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Gaulton, R., Wulder, M.A., Cranston, J., Stenhouse, G. (2012). Bi-weekly disturbance capture and attribution: A case study in western Alberta. Journal of Applied Remote Sensing, 5 053568-1- 053568-11
Hilker, T. Coops N.C, Culvenor D.S., Newnham G., Jupp D.L.B., Siggins, A., Bater, C.W. (2012) Merging multiple terrestrial LiDAR data for vegetation analysis: Extracting terrain information. Remote Sensing Letters, 3:3 239-247
2011
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Hall, F.G., Nichol, C.J, Lyapustin, A., Black, T.A., Wulder, M.A., Leuning, R., Barr, A., Hollinger, D.Y., Munger, J. W., Tucker, C. J. (2011) Inferring terrestrial photosynthetic light use efficiency of temperate ecosystems from space. Journal of Geophysical Research. Vol. 116, G03014. 11p.
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Newnham, G., v. Leeuwen, M., Wulder, M.A., Stewart, J., Culvenor, D.S. (2011) Comparison of terrestrial and airborne LiDAR in describing stand structure of a thinned lodgepole pine forest Journal of Forestry, 110, 97-104
Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Coops, N.C., Lyapustin, A., Wang, Y., Grant, N, Nesic, Z., Black, Wulder, M.A., T.A., Kljun, N., Chasmer, L., Hopkinson, C. (2010). Remote sensing of photosynthetic light use efficiency across two forested biomes: Spatial scaling. Remote Sensing of Environment, 114, 2863–2874
Hilker, T., Lepine, L., Coops, N.C., Jassal, R.S., Black, T.A., Wulder, M.A., Ollinger, S.O., Tsui, O., Day, M. (2011). Assessing the impact of N-fertilization on biochemical composition and biomass of a Douglas-fir canopy – a remote sensing approach. Agricultural and Forest Meteorology, 153, 124-133
Bater, C.W., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., Nelson, R.F., Hilker, T., & Naesset, E. (2011). Stability of Sample-Based Scanning-LiDAR-Derived Vegetation Metrics for Forest Monitoring. Ieee Transactions on Geoscience and Remote Sensing, 49, 2385-2392
Coggins, S.B., Coops, N.C., Hilker, T. Wulder, M.A. (2011) Augmenting forest inventory attributes with Landsat imagery in support of area-wide susceptibility assessments to bark beetle infestations. Int.J. Appl. Earth Observation & Geoinformation, in press
Gaulton, R., Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., Stenhouse, G. (2011). Characterizing stand replacing disturbance in western Alberta Grizzly bear habitat using a satellite-derived high temporal and spatial resolution change sequence. Forest Ecology and Management 261, 865–877
Hall, F.G., Hilker, T., Coops, N.C. (2011) Photosynthat, Photosynthesis from space: Theoretical foundations of a satellite concept and validation from tower and spaceborne data. Remote Sensing of Environment , 115, 1918-1925
van Leeuwen, M., Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Frazer, G., Wulder, M.A., Newnham, G.J., & Culvenor, D.S. (2011). Assessment of standing wood and fiber quality using ground and airborne laser scanning: A review. Forest Ecology and Management, 261, 1467-1478
Hilker, T., Frazer, G. W., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A., Newnham, G. J., Stewart, J. D., van Leeuwen, M., Culvenor, D.S. (2011). Prediction of Wood Fiber Attributes from LiDAR-derived Forest Canopy Indicators. Forest Science
Hilker, T., v. Leeuwen, M., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A., Newnham G., Jupp D.L.B., Culvenor D.S (2010). Comparing canopy metrics derived from terrestrial and airborne laser scanning in a Douglas-fir dominated forest stand Trees-Structure and Function, DOI 10.1007/s00468-010-0452-7
2010
Watts, J., Powell, S., Hilker, T., Lawrence, R. (2010) Improved classification of conservation tillage adoption using high temporal and synthetic satellite imagery. Remote Sensing of Environment, 115, 66-754
Hilker, T., Gitelson, A., Coops, N.C., Hall, F.G., Black, T.A. (2010) Tracking plant physiological properties from multi-angular tower-based remote sensing. Oecologia 165: 865-876 DOI 10.1007/s00442-010-1901-0
Hilker, T., Nesic, Z., Coops, N.C., & Lessard, D. (2010). A new automated multi-angular radiometer instrument for tower based observations of canopy reflectance (AMSPEC II). Instrumentation Science and Technology, 38, 319-340
Bater, C.W., Coops, N.C., Wulder, A., Hilker, T., Nielsen, S., McDermid, G., Stenhouse, G. (2010) Using digital time-lapse cameras to monitor species-specific understorey and overstorey phenology in support of wildlife habitat assessments. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, DOI 10.1007/s10661-010-1768-x
Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Hall, F.G., Nichol, C., Drolet, G.G. (2010) Estimation of Light-Use-Efficiency from Space: A Status Report. Bioscience, 60, 788-797
Wulder, M.A., White, J.C., Stinson, G., Hilker, T., Kurz, W., Coops, N.C., St-Onge, B., Trofymow, J.A. (2010) Implications of differing input data sources and approaches upon forest carbon stock estimation. Environmental Monitoring Assessment, DOI 10.1007/s10661-009-1022-6
2009
Hilker, T., Lyapustin, A., Hall, F.G., Wang, Y., Coops, N.C., Drolet, G., & Black, T.A. (2009). An assessment of photosynthetic light use efficiency from space: Modeling the atmospheric and directional impacts on PRI reflectance. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 2463-2475
Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., Linke, J., McDermid, G., Masek, J.G., Gao, F., & White, J.C. (2009). A new data fusion model for high spatial- and temporal-resolution mapping of forest disturbance based on Landsat and MODIS. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 1613-1627
Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., Coops, N.C., Seitz, N., White, J.C., Gao, F., Masek, J.G., & Stenhouse, G. (2009). Generation of dense time series synthetic Landsat data through data blending with MODIS using a spatial and temporal adaptive reflectance fusion model. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 1988-1999
Chen, B.Z., Black, T.A., Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Trofymow, J.A., & Morgenstern, K. (2009). Assessing Tower Flux Footprint Climatology and Scaling Between Remotely Sensed and Eddy Covariance Measurements. Boundary-Layer Meteorology, 130, 137-167
Cheng, Y.B., Middleton, E.M., Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Black, T.A., & Krishnan, P. (2009). Dynamics of spectral bio-indicators and their correlations with light use efficiency using directional observations at a Douglas-fir forest. Measurement Science & Technology, 20
Middleton, E.M., Cheng, Y.B., Hilker, T., Black, T.A., Krishnan, P., Coops, N.C., & Huemmrich, K.F. (2009). Linking foliage spectral responses to canopy-level ecosystem photosynthetic light-use efficiency at a Douglas-fir forest in Canada. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 35, 166-188
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Coggins, S.B., Wulder, M.A., Brown, M., Black, T.A., Nesic, Z., & Lessard, D. (2009). Detection of foliage conditions and disturbance from multi-angular high spectral resolution remote sensing. Remote Sensing of Environment, 113, 421-434
2008
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Hall, F.G., Black, T.A., Chen, B., Krishnan, P., Wulder, M.A., Sellers, P.J., Middleton, E.M., & Huemmrich, K.F. (2008). A modeling approach for upscaling gross ecosystem production to the landscape scale using remote sensing data. Journal of Geophysical Research-Biogeosciences, 113
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Hall, F.G., Black, T.A., Wulder, M.A., Nesic, Z., & Krishnan, P. (2008). Separating physiologically and directionally induced changes in PRI using BRDF models. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112, 2777-2788
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Schwalm, C.R., Jassal, R.S., Black, T.A., & Krishnan, P. (2008). Effects of mutual shading of tree crowns on prediction of photosynthetic light-use efficiency in a coastal Douglas-fir forest. Tree Physiology, 28, 825-834
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Wulder, M.A., Black, T.A., & Guy, R.D. (2008). The use of remote sensing in light use efficiency based models of gross primary production: A review of current status and future requirements. Science of the Total Environment, 404, 411-423
Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., & Coops, N.C. (2008). Update of forest inventory data with lidar and high spatial resolution satellite imagery. Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing, 34, 5-12
Hall, F.G., Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Lyapustin, A., Huemmrich, K.F., Middleton, E., Margolis, H., Drolet, G., & Black, T.A. (2008). Multi-angle remote sensing of forest light use efficiency by observing PRI variation with canopy shadow fraction. Remote Sensing of Environment, 112, 3201-3211
Wulder, M.A., Bater, C.W., Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., & White, J.C. (2008). The role of LiDAR in sustainable forest management. The Forestry Chronicle, 84, 807-826
2007
Hilker, T., Coops, N.C., Nesic, Z., Wulder, M.A., & Black, T.A. (2007). Instrumentation and approach for unattended year round tower based measurements of spectral reflectance. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture, 56, 72-84
Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., St-Onge, B., Newnham, G., Siggins, A., & Trofymow, J.A. (2007). Estimating canopy structure of Douglas-fir forest stands from discrete-return LiDAR. Trees-Structure and Function, 21, 295-310
White, J.C., Coops, N.C., Hilker, T., Wulder, M.A., & Carroll, A.L. (2007). Detecting mountain pine beetle red attack damage with EO-1 hyperion moisture indices. International Journal of Remote Sensing, 28, 2111-2121